Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1887-01-21
ALLleAroas N irAe sA4aM6ss
Drifting Hundreds OF Miles In tho oess
Currents-Cnrious sunerraitlor.

orItsin8 Hundreds OF Miles In tho Dccaf9
CurreHts-Crrious superssitions.
Catesby, in his Natural History of
Carolina, Florida and tho Bahama IsI3
ands. /" published about century aga. s
speaks OF having seen aIlgntors OH the
isiand OF Andres in this gfoup. At
present there arc none, and, with the ol,,s
lect OF finding out IL there was my trs~
dition current bearing upon che subject,
made inquiries through the medium of
The Nassau Guardian. In answer to my
questions, lately received from the rec
for OF Inagua, Mt the extreme soutleass Of
the group. letter, in which lie mon.
fions that stories of nllegatora having
been driftcl on logs OF mahogany, and
thrown up OH the shores OF tho island,
nrc common, but that he had not been
able to verify them. However, a. few
days previous 10 the date of the letter,
While on visit to ono Of tho settlements,
Mr.. dc Glnuyillc, the rector, was shown
the skin of an alligator eight feot long
from tip to tip, which hnd been shot on
shore n day or two before by a man
whose name Is given. Many logs OF ma
hogeny had been cast up on the shores
Of Inagua about tut time; but the alli.
gator hal not been observed to land.
and had been seen ON shore several times
before it was shot,
There seems, however, to DO no rem
sonablo doubt tia, tho alligator was
driftcd by the current from the south
east to lnagun on n log of mnhogoly
from San Domingo, the nearest place In
which alligators. are found. This means
thnt 1t Travelled n distance OF from 100
to 100 miles. With regard to the occur
renee OF alligators on Andres, Catcsby
was n very accurate Observer and there
seoms to be no reason for doubling his
statement. These aligntors would mp
pear to'haye been carried on driftwood
from the northwest const of Cuba, n
distance of 300 miles by tho gulf stream,
and cnst on the edge of tho Great Ba-
hnma bank, whence local currents,
aided by tho wind, might have carried
them to the west coast OF Andres. The
absence Of traditions on the subject mny
DO owing TO tho iaot TINT tho present
inhabitants of Andres aru principally
descendants OF persons who settled
thero at nperiod subsequent to Catesby,s
visit.
While on tho subject Of Andros, may
bo allowed to mention two rather ruri-
GUS superstitions current among tho in
labitanta Of TINT interesting island? The
'Hn.syesrinr H.yesr OF tho northern pnrt OF tho isl.
land consists Of s&s and lakes, inter-
spersed with patches osf-lecky ground on
which the Bahama pine I'. Bah6r,aneisl
grows thiokly. The negroes huvc q
great dislike TO entering these pine
woods nlone or oven in small comml.
MES. Tor thcy say that peculiar race OF
mnlevolent being, called "littlo people,r
inbnbit the trees, These creatures aro
aaid " lie liko tiny men covered with
hnir. They ait ON tho pine boughs. AMI
u man notices tlicm and points them
ont To his companions, the wir,..
party is rendered immOvable for day
un'l u night; but, IL fire is thrown ut tho
little people" they d.g ppenr without
doing nny harm.
The other superstition also relates to
the pine woods. Creatures like enor-
nous hairy men, called by the negroes
"Yayhoos," nre said to march about tic
woods in aschoois," tho largest coming
| first; and "when dey cotch you dey tear
yon." These beings are much moro
dreaded than the "little people, 1t looks
ms II their name had been given by some
travellers familiar with "Gulliver's Tray.
rls.' and utruch with the resemblance
between them and the terrible creatures
Of Swift's imagination.
Both of these superstitions would ap-
par to bs tradiiionsof the land from
which the negroes originally came. The
little people" are probably u recollection
OF the small nboreal monkeys, while the
@Yayhoos' represent the gorillas of west
Africa.-Jolm Gardiner in Science.